Distraught
by iwillbeagunanditsyouillcomefor
Summary: AU: He narrowed his eyes in search of the animal…or so he thought that's what it was until he saw the bare, pale feet sticking out from underneath a leafy branch. WARNING: Morgan/Reid,other warnings inside
1. Chapter 1: The Unknown Parts

**Alright. This is another one of my AU stories.**

**You know how I am with my AU stories.**

**I'm completely out of control.**

**WARNING: ****AU****, Morgan as a hunter, Spencer as a physically damaged boy who lives in the forest, Morgan/Reid, violence, abuse, maybe some gritty future smut, if you guys are nice**

**You're probably scared yet exhilarated to see what I've done with them now.**

**Not to worry.**

**Reid/Review/Enjoy!**

**Gubleronics**

_Distraught_

_Chapter 1: The Unknown Part_

Derek trudged up the snowy slope with his bow in hand and his arrows in a quiver slung over his shoulder. He smiled as he saw his group of friends who were also hunters. He adjusted his hat as snow fluttered down softly and the wind whipped by quietly. His fingers were numb and his nose was unnoticeably red. He reached the top of the hill and grinned at them. "Ready to go?"

His friend Emily rolled her eyes. "Well, we would've _been _ready to go if you hadn't taken your sweet time walking up a simple slope."

JJ, his other companion, leaned an elbow on her shoulder with a sleazy grin. "Well, I don't know about you, but my fingers are itching to get hunting."

Aaron shoved her shoulder playfully. "Let's get going then!"

As children, they have all developed a love for hunting because they were all raised within the woods. Their strong, unbreakable friendship happened by a fate.

Garret was just there to tag along because Aaron brought him along. JJ and Emily didn't like him too much – he was too much of an alpha male and he was _painfully, seriously, severely _egocentric. It was a struggle to Derek to understand how Aaron, a person of modest honesty and strength, tolerate someone so childish and under grown. Garret may have been a good looking man with his sharp-boned features and his sharp green eyes with his closely cropped brown hair, but he thought too highly of himself, almost as if he were a god of some sort. He'd make a move on anyone who he thought would suit his liking. Every time Derek saw Garret in action, he saw himself as he was in college and high school, trying to get under every girl's skirts when they came to him. Derek never liked the way he was back then and he was lucky he changed.

Derek began to follow them further into the woods until he heard rustling and a pile of snow fell on top of his head. He brushed it off and quickly positioned himself at the tree branches. He narrowed his eyes in search of the animal…or so he thought that's what it was until he saw the bare, pale feet sticking out from underneath a leafy branch. He lowered his arms and frowned.

JJ walked closer to him and whispered, "What is it?"

Derek held up a finger to silence her and peered up at the pair of feet. "Is anybody up there?"

The feet slid its heels further into themselves and a pair of hands flashed out and held their knees.

Derek sauntered cautiously closer to the tree. "I…I won't harm you."

Those appeared to be the wrong words. There was a sharp snap and a thick branch flew from the tree onto his head. The feet adjusted themselves again, as if they were willing themselves to disappear.

Garret shook his head and rolled his eyes. "This is ridiculous," he pulled out his gun and shot the branch where the feet were residing and the branch snapped. The branch was hanging on by a thread.

"Garret, what are you doing?" Derek whispered sharply.

"Teaching you how to quit wasting time," he shot at the branch again and the branch fell away completely.

As the branch fell, so did a young boy. The boy wore nothing but a thin, worn shirt and torn, raggedy pants that stopped at his knees. Although he landed on his arm, he quickly regained his strength and pushed himself against the tree, his large, hazel eyes flashing with trepidation as his eyes darted from every single one of them. He shivered violently, making his hazel curls dance around his face and bounce off of his shoulders. His pink and full lips were tinting with blue and his sharp-boned features were scrunched up painfully with fear.

Derek put his bow away as pity covered his face and chest. He kneeled down in front of him with a sincere, concerned face. "Are you alright?"

The boy opened his mouth, but quickly closed it due to his fear.

Garret rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "We're wasting time. We need to get hunting."

"How about you go on, Garret, since you're so eager to continue?" Derek snapped.

Garret sighed and shook his head in annoyance. "Whatever. Tell me when you're done with forest boy here." He pushed through the crowd forming around the boy and ventured on by himself.

Derek's eyes flickered with apology. "I'm sorry about that. Do you…do you have a place to stay?"

The boy shook his head fervently as his hands balled into fists.

"Would you like to stay with us?"

The boy whimpered quietly as looked at them in growing fear.

"We won't hurt you; we'll take care of you. My name is Derek. Her name is Emily, her name is Jennifer, or you can call her JJ, and his name is Aaron. You don't have to be scared of us, alright?"

The boy looked down and nodded.

Derek extended an arm. "Can I help you up?"

The boy nodded and lifted his arm as he kept his head down.

Derek leaned down as he gently grabbed his arm and slung it around his shoulder, then lifted him with no trouble – the boy was very light and thin.

The boy removed his arm quickly and hugged himself as if he wanted to keep himself in one piece. He kept his head down.

"Do you have a name?" Derek asked gently.

The boy nodded.

"Do you want to tell us what it is?"

The boy paused for a moment then shook his head.

Derek nodded. "Alright; we'll be heading to camp not too far from here and be hunting for food even farther. Have you had something to eat?" Derek was scared to ask.

The boy… nodded.

Derek had a deep feeling that whatever it was he ate it was a living thing, most likely an animal. It was most likely that he ate it raw. He nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

During the walk to the campsite, Emily whispered to him, "What are we going to do with him after this trip is over?"

Derek shrugged. "I guess I'll keep him and see what I can do to find where he lives – _if _he remembers where he lives. Maybe even get him some clothes. There's not much more I can do."

Emily peered at the boy out of the corner of her eye. "Well, whatever happened to him it looks like he went through hell to survive it."

Derek nodded in sad agreement. "You got that right."

They kept the boy at the camp and warned him to stay put until they came back, then arrived back at the camp with a cooler of fish and other animals by nightfall, quite surprised to find the boy was still there in his protective fetal position.

Derek was busy skinning a bunny when the boy finally said something. "S-Spencer."

Derek looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Is that your name?"

He looked down and nodded.

Derek turned to him fully and leaned his elbows on his knees. "Well, I need to ask you some questions, Spencer."

Spencer looked fearful. "You won't tell him I told you anything, w-will you?"

Derek narrowed his eyebrows and frowned. "Tell who?"

Garret chuckled to himself. "Quiet _and _crazy."

Emily smacked him upside the head angrily. "Shut up, Garret. You have no idea what he's been through."

Spencer shut his eyes and turned his head away into his shoulder. "I've said too much. He'll hurt me. He'll find me and he'll hurt me. I'll get punished."

"Who is 'he', Spencer?" Derek prodded carefully.

"F-father. He doesn't want me talking to anybody. He doesn't like people. He doesn't like me," he looked up, shaking violently. "If he doesn't like me, he won't like you. Not at all. He won't like you. I will get punished." He hid his face back into his shoulder and began to cry silently.

Garret set his skinned fish on his lap. "Well, I guess that's it then. We'll have to take him to the loony bin."

"I'm not doing that," Derek growled, his eyes still set on Spencer.

"Look at him, Derek," Garret said, pointing his knife in Spencer's direction. "The boy's positive he'll get "punished" by his own father. He's living in trees, Derek! He's got no father to go home to. He probably doesn't even have a home! Now look at us, trying to take care of some retard. I'm not dealing with this."

"Then go home, you asshole! Nobody told your ass to come down here and nobody said that you had to deal with him! You're not the one taking him home!" Derek shot back. He took a few intense breaths as he closed his eyes to calm himself. He opened his eyes and clenched his jaw. "You can either take your ass home or you can stay here and man up."

Garret rolled his eyes as he set his fish on the tree stump he was sitting on and crossed his arms. "I'm taking a walk."

"That's great, Garret. Grow a pair when you come back," Aaron murmured.

Garret glared at him hotly and set off.

Spencer sat quietly, folded into himself. _Father's going to come…he'll hurt them first and hurt me the most…I don't want him to come…I want to stay here with them…I don't want him to come and hurt me…_

"Spencer?"

Spencer turned his head to peek at Derek.

"I'm sorry. Garret's just being a little stupid, but he'll get his act together. Can you…tell me a little about yourself? Just one thing; you don't even have to tell me your age."

Spencer unfolded himself from his shell slowly and hugged himself protectively. "I can read 20,000 words per minute," he said quietly.

Derek looked taken aback as he raised his eyebrows. "Wow, really? Are you some sort of genius or something?"

Spencer automatically nodded. That always used to be the question asked back when Father didn't punish him. He looked down as tears spilled over his cheeks. "I ran away," he said, his voice being barely audible.

"Form home? From your father?"

"He's not my father; he's a monster," Spencer said angrily, barely noticing the words that rolled out of his lips. He quickly covered his mouth and looked down. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"That's alright," Derek said gently. "It's alright to blame your father for whatever he did to you. Do you know where he is right now? Where do you live?"

"No!" Spencer said quickly, his head shooting up. "You can't take me back there! He'll hurt me! He'll tell you lies and hurt me!"

Derek stood up and made his way over to him with an outstretched hand. "I'm not taking you back home, Spencer. I just need to tell the police where he is when we return from our trip."

"He'll lie to them. He'll get away and tell them I'm ill. I'm not." Spencer said softly.

Derek kneeled in front of him and got a good idea at what his father was doing to him by the look of his legs and arms – ugly, blue, black, and purple bruises covered the pale, milky skin. Some of them were recent. The strange thing was that there was nothing on his face. Derek felt an overwhelming pity and sorrow for him. "Can I hug you, Spencer?"

Spencer looked startled, but nodded.

Derek caught him in a tight, humble, and warm embrace and he shed a few tears of his own. "We're here to help you, Spencer. Your father won't ever find you and hurt you again," he stated, his voice nearly thick with tears.

Spencer slowly responded to the hug and buried his face into his broad shoulder. It's been so long since he felt the warmth of a hug…. "Do you promise?"

Derek nodded. "I promise."

**AN: Pretty long, but still good, right?**

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	2. Chapter 2: Hey There, Forest Boy

**You guys have been so supportive with the ideas!**

**SHOUTOUT TO: AngiePowers493, cristina reid, DerekandReidSlash for the ideas on how to make this story an absolute success! **

**You gave me more reviews than I ever have in one chapter too! So thank you to the reviewers, too! *hugs, cookies, and kisses***

**A little WARNING up ahead: Garret's gonna be even more of a bastard in this chapter, if even possible.**

…**Yeah, I think I can do that.**

**But there will be change up ahead. Don't you worry…*smirks***

***Pulls out basket of sunshine and flings more hugs, cookies and kisses into the air***

**Go on, my dearies! You know you want to!**

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**Gubleronics**

_Chapter 2: Hey There, Forest Boy_

Spencer whimpered quietly. Warmth, something of a silky sort of material, and skin spread over his bare arms. It felt like a million hands and arms were over him. He whimpered a little louder.

"_Spencer, wake up…Daddy wants to have a little fun with you…"_

Spencer jerked up and out from under the blankets and arms. "No!"

Derek popped up with him and rubbed his arms. "What's wrong? What is it this time?" His voice was slurred from sleep, but he was still gradually worried.

Spencer whimpered in a soft, muffled tone as he put his head in his hands and leaned over. "No…"

Derek sighed and rubbed his back and felt a little bit more pitiful when the boy tensed. "Spencer, it's fine. It's just me."

Spencer shook his head and flinched away from Derek's touch. This has been the third nightmare he's had ever since he went to sleep.

JJ, Emily, Aaron, and Derek all shared the same tent. Garret insisted that he "needed to sleep alone because he didn't want to catch the disease of ugliness" and "needed space". Derek rolled his eyes at the thought.

Garret poked his head through the tent flap and annoyance was clear on his face. His hair was in disarray and his clothes were ruffled. "Tell that boy to shut the hell up or he'll be seeing his father again."

Spencer's head shot up and concern and trepidation flashed across his face. "What?" He turned his head and looked at Derek in consuming fear. "You wouldn't take me back, would you? You…you can't! Please don't take me back, Derek!" He balled up his hands into fists and clutched them close to his chest along with the blankets. "He'll-he'll hurt me and he'll…please don't take me back…" Tears dribbled over on his flushed cheeks.

Derek shook his head. "Spencer, I'm not taking you anywhere but to stay with me." He growled at Garrett in rage. "What the hell are you thinking, saying something like that to him? You can either leave and go home to sleep or you can ignore it. Your choice" he shook his head. "I don't even see how Aaron puts up with you."

Garrett ignored the comment and glared at Spencer. "You may have Derek to protect you now, but just you wait, forest boy. You'll get yours," and without another word or sound, he disappeared.

Derek sighed. "Ignore him, Spencer. He's just upset that our plans are a little delayed."

"H-how long will we be out here?" Spencer asked softly.

"Just three more days, alright? Is that alright with you?" Derek asked gently.

Spencer thought about it – maybe they were ahead of Father. He knew he was looking for him. He nodded slowly. "Yes, it's alright."

Derek nodded. "Well, we need to get moving if we want to make it home before that blizzard moves in," he stood and extended a hand to Spencer to help him up.

Spencer hesitantly took it and stood quickly so that he could release it. For some reason, he didn't like touching people and he didn't like people touching him (that part was understandable).

When they stepped outside, Garret stood before them with his arms crossed and his things packed. "Are we ready to leave now? I want to get out of this cold already."

Derek turned on him angrily. "Garrett, if you don't shut your fucking mouth, I _will _do it for you, do you understand me?"

Garret glared at him and smirked. "Crystal clear, sir." He turned his gaze on Spencer and they turned bitterly cold. "No more delays, forest boy. We've got places to go to and things to do."

"The only place you have to go to is the club and the only thing you have to do is absolutely nothing. Fucking people is not a necessity," Emily snapped.

"It is in my book, baby," Garret replied slyly. "Especially when someone hasn't done it in a long time. I wonder why that is?"

Emily was entirely prepared to go at him until JJ stopped her. JJ tugged her back. "As much I'd like to too, we've got to keep moving. We can deal with him later."

Emily sighed and nodded before packing the last of her things.

Derek approached her. "We ready?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah, um, Derek? What are we gonna do about Spencer? I mean, I get that you're going to have him stay with you, but what happens after that? Are you sure there's not anything we can do?"

Derek sighed and shrugged. "Well, he looks pretty young. I could adopt him, but…that would require permission from the biological parent, so I can't. I don't know if he has a mother or not. I don't know if he even has records of his existence! I think I can keep him under my roof and see what I can do for that time being."

"What _are _you going to do? I mean, we can't just keep him locked up in your house until he's up and ready to go. And we can't leave him here either."

Derek sighed as he ran a hand over his head. "This is a problem. I guess I can ask my dad what the options are for things like this, if I can have him live with me. I'm 20; I can handle him."

Emily nodded in agreement and looked over his shoulder. "Well, then, let's go."

They walked to their friends and Garret. Spencer had his arms wrapped around himself protectively and watched Garret with wariness as they started off. Garret was glaring at him coldly the whole time the others were walking and hunting. He didn't take his eyes off of him and Spencer often times had to look away and avoid the chilliness of the gaze. Garret had bad intentions with Spencer - Spencer was sure of it.

By noon, they had walked a considerable length closer to their town. Derek turned to Spencer and Garret, who were sitting on separate stumps. Spencer sat at the one farther away from the hated hunter. Derek looked at them both and saw nothing to concern him. "We'll be going out to hunt for more animals and be back in…say, two hours or so," he glared at Garret. "You _better _watch over him. If he is taken by his father, I swear I will beat your ass into the next decade. Do you understand?"

Garret glared back. "Yes, sir."

Derek smiled at Spencer in a gentle way and walked away with the others.

Spencer slowly carried his gaze to Garret, who was watching him intently. Garret inhaled a breath as if he was going to start talking. He did. "Hey there, forest boy," he chuckled huskily. "Guess you're not used to surroundings like us, huh?"

Spencer didn't speak a word, just shook his head.

Garret stood and threw the stick he held into the fire they made. His hot, burning, lustful gaze fell onto him. "I can make it a lot easier to get used to." He smirked and started to walk toward him in a taunting pace.

Spencer ended up slipping off of his stump and backed into a tree as Garret walked closer. "S-stop…get away from me…"

Garret laughed as he towered over him and dropped onto his knees to straddle his waist. "Do you really think that _begging _me is going to get me to stop? That just makes me want you more," he murmured. He set his hands under Spencer's arms and slid them down to his waist.

Spencer shut his eyes and held in his sobs. "Please, stop it."

Garret rubbed circles into his hips. "I only want to make the wait a little shorter. Come on, Spencer. It'll be fine." He leaned down to kiss him…

"He raped me! He raped me! Don't you understand? He raped me!" Spencer shouted as he squeezed his eyes tighter and turned his head away from his lips.

Garret stopped in his tracks. He pulled back with a surprisingly shocked face. "What?"

Spencer pushed him off and crawled away to the other side of the fire. "Get away from me! He raped me! Don't do it to me again," he said quietly.

Garret still sat there on his knees and stood up, trying to hide the pitying look on his face. "Oh…well, I guess I'm sorry."

Spencer still sat on the other side of the fire with his knees pushed up to his chest and kept there by his arms. He looked at Garret for the longest time before directing his eyes downward and burying his face in his knees. "I…I won't tell them…"

Garret looked at him with narrowed eyebrows, as if saying 'what?' He then just shrugged and sat down on his stump. "Whatever. Get over here before they come back and suspect something."

Spencer looked up slowly, his whole body quivering. He didn't want to be anywhere _near _Garret, but he reluctantly obeyed. He sat on the far end of the stump and turned his body away from the hunter with his arms wrapped around himself protectively. He narrowed his eyebrows to prevent tears from coming, but failed entirely. He buried his face into his knees as he drew them up to chest again and wrapped his arms around them, sobbing as silently as he could.

It was finally nightfall by the time Derek and everyone else returned and Spencer had controlled himself of his tears and quickly wiped them away. Derek looked at Garret with a careful gaze. "Did he do alright?"

Garret shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. He just sat there crying the whole time."

"And you didn't try to comfort him?" Derek snapped as he walked over to Spencer and placed a hand on his shoulder, where he instantly tensed.

Garret chuckled as he got up and walked over to the coolers where they held their fish and other animals. "Come on, Derek. You know I'm not one for comfort. I'm one for action."

Derek growled at him and turned his attention to Spencer and rubbed his shoulder. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Spencer buried himself impossibly deeper into his knees. "N-nothing, j-just…n-nothing."

"Spencer, it's better if you…"

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong! Can't you just leave it alone?" Spencer whimpered. He laid his head on his knees and tilted it, his eyes heavily lidded. "I just want to go to sleep. I just want to sleep…"

Derek patted his shoulder and nodded, watching him carefully. "Alright. Alright, you can go to sleep as soon as we make camp. We'll make camp here, alright?"

Spencer nodded tiredly and closed his eyes, drifting off.

Derek stood up and turned to his friends, who all had shocked looks on their faces (Garret tried to hide his).

Derek sighed. "Let's just make camp and head to bed already. Today's been kind of a long day."

Emily spoke up. "But Derek, we need to talk about what happened in the forest today."

Derek shot her a barely-controlled glare. "We'll talk about that in the morning."

"Derek, quit holding things off. We need to talk about it now," Emily snapped. "Sit down."

Derek huffed, but he sat on Garret's stump and crossed his arms.

Emily sighed. "It's obvious that we have a threat now, Derek. We've been shot at _both _times we were hunting. Pay attention to that – have we had any problems before we picked Spencer up?"

"So what are you saying?" Derek snapped, getting very defensive. "That this is _Spencer's _fault?"

Emily shook her head quickly. "No, I'm not. I'm not blaming this on him at all. What I'm saying is that whoever Spencer's enemy is, is now our enemy. They followed us. We need to keep watch and bring Spencer with us next time. We're only two days away from the town; we have the supplies we need. We just need to be a lot more careful now."

Derek sighed. "Alright, fine. We'll bring him along tomorrow. I just want to head to bed."

They set up their camp and got into their tents, fairly tired. Derek glanced down at Spencer as he slept soundlessly against his arm, wondering if bringing him along was a good idea at all.

**AN: Alright, how was that? Did you like it?**

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	3. Chapter 3: Bullets In The Bark

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**Gubleronics **

_Chapter 3: Bullets In The Bark_

Spencer sat on a stump and watched Derek and his friends as they packed up. _Just two more days here…Two more and then you're safe from Father. You won't ever see him again. _He nodded to himself, his courage growing. He knew he'd make it out of this alive. He was determined to. Even though there was a time he was ready to give up, he told himself he couldn't do that. He took the time to look every single one of them over. He smiled slightly. And now he finally made it.

Derek slung his backpack over his shoulder and adjusted it. He turned his head to look at Spencer, who was looking at him. He quickly directed his eyes away. _Good God, Derek, what have you gotten yourself into? You pick a boy up from a tree and think that saving him is going to be simple. _He shook his head. _If anything, simple isn't one of the words to describe what it's gonna take to save him from his seemingly god-awful father. _And right then and there, it clicked. He whirled around to face everyone. "I think our enemy is…" He suddenly realized Spencer was there and didn't want to frighten him, so he leaned in and whispered in Emily's ear. "His father. I mean, who else would Spencer have contact to? Can you imagine how long he's been in this weather and woods?"

Emily nodded and pulled away. She immediately answered at the questioning faces of others. "We'll um…we'll tell you later, at a more appropriate time, alright?"

JJ gave her a suspicious glance, but kept her thoughts to herself. _What's going on? _She tried to be as neutral with this as she could, but she was starting to question how all of this was going to turn out alright. As a mother and a wife, she had a family to head back to. And to be honest, she didn't want some little boy to be the cause of her death. She knew it was a bad idea right from the start. She took her back pack, bow, and quiver and ventured off with Aaron, who was upset with this just as much as she was. "I know you're pissed."

"What do you think? We find a boy who fell out of a tree like a fucking leaf and expect the best out of it. Now we're out here dodging bullets and arrows. Who really wanted this to happen for our trip?" Aaron snapped. The grumpiness on his face was visible. He didn't like it one bit. Just like the rest of them (except for Garret), he thought that was going to be easy: Get the boy out of the forest and into one of our homes. That was a major laugh in the face. It was beginning to be far from easy. Aaron could see the boy starting mental breakdowns and wondered how frequent they would be before he lost his patience and just killed him.

Garret trekked up behind them with an equally grumpy face, but it was always like that ever since Spencer came along. He just wanted a normal hunting trip with two beautiful women and his bow, quiver, and gun. And now ever since that forest boy tagged along, he couldn't even have that. He couldn't have anything, as spoiled as his…acquaintances thought he was. "What the fuck do we think we're doing? We don't even know how _old _the boy is, yet we're taking him into one of homes'? I didn't sign up for this. I just wanted to hunt and have a nice weekend."

"Derek agreed to take him, Garret. None of us signed up for this. We just have to figure out how to handle this. We'll figure it out. We just need to keep our composures until everything's settled out," Aaron said gruffly. He turned to JJ. "Do think our enemy is Spencer's father?"

JJ put her hands up in defense. "Hey, your guess is as good as mine. Besides, who else would be out here in this cold except for other hunters? All the other hunters I know wouldn't hurt a fly – not unless they had to. I'm not a threat to them. It has to be his father."

Aaron nodded and sighed. It was going to be some long couple of weeks until this is all settled out.

Spencer stood up from his stump and twisted his fingers together nervously. He looked from Derek to Emily. "W-what's going on?"

Derek shook his head. "It's nothing, Spencer."

Spencer's hands started to shake. "It's my father, isn't it? Is he coming to take me again?" His voice quivered with fear.

"Spencer, it's nothing concerning you or your father," Derek lied. As much as he hated lying to the boy that way, it was for the best intentions. He still saw that Spencer was shaking and stepped forward to calm him down. "Spencer…"

Spencer stepped back. "I heard you last night, saying that someone was shooting at you. It's him, isn't it?"

Emily stepped in. "No, it's not, Spencer. Everything will be fine and we'll get you to Derek's house as soon as we can, alright?"

Spencer knew she was lying. As soothing and smooth as he voice was, he still wasn't calm. He didn't want to be calm – he wanted to know the truth. He stepped back further from them. "Why are you lying to me?"

Derek huffed. "Spencer, we're not sure if it's your father or not. We just want to keep you safe."

Suddenly, Spencer started to tremble roughly. He dropped to his knees and put himself in fetal position, rocking back and forth and mumbling to himself. _"Father's gonna take me. Father's gonna rape me. Father's gonna punish me. Father's gonna hate me. F-Father…"_

For the strangest reason, irritation clutched at Derek's chest. He grabbed the boy's arm harshly and pulled him out of his position. "Your father's not gonna do anything to you, do you hear me? He's not coming for you! He's not gonna do anything to you!" It took him a while to notice that he was shaking him, but he didn't stop until he saw the pained and fearful look in his expressive eyes. He slowed to a stop and released him, standing up quickly as though he suddenly discovered that he was a monster. He looked down at his trembling hands and clutched them into fists to stop them. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," he said quietly. "Let's just go." He turned on his heel and walked away quickly without a word, regret plummeting deep in his stomach.

Emily knelt down in front of Spencer, who was staring at the spot where Derek's heels drilled in the snow. She carefully put a hand on his shoulder and felt him tense. She sighed as she felt tears well up in her eyes. "He didn't mean to hurt you, Spencer. He's just stressed, that's all. He has a lot of patience. Just give him some time," she tried to prevent her tears from sounding out in her voice but she failed. She wanted so _badly _to pull him in a hug, but knew he would be more scared. She simply rubbed his shoulder in replacement for her want and helped him up.

The walk through the forest was quiet. Everyone was off balance and focus. They barely killed anything because of their short-attention span, all of their minds wandering somewhere else. Even Garret wasn't focused and he wasn't even worried about Spencer at first.

Spencer stared up at the trees to find holes filled with some metal item and arrows plummeted inside them. He stopped for a moment to study them and narrowed his eyebrows. He didn't mean to cause any harm. He just wanted to be away from Father.

He tensed as he heard rustling from behind him and his heart started pounding in his throat. He tried to stay still and keep his attention directed on the tree. He glanced to his side and narrowed his eyebrows in worry. Where was everyone? _Shit!_ He was lost!

No longer able to control himself, he whirled around to find his intruder was…

A fox.

He stared at it for a long time. A fox. A fucking fox. He almost laughed, but instead, just settled for a chuckle. A fox! He smiled. It was a beautiful one with its auburn fur and sweet honey eyes. It was strange, but in that moment, he wanted to keep it. He wanted to keep it and call it his own. He knelt down in front of it and was surprised it didn't move away. He stroked its fur along its back and smiled wider as it nuzzled his arm in appreciation. In that moment, he wanted nothing else in the world but that fox. If he could have it, he would've named it after his old fox, Owen. It seemed that it fit best for this fox, too. He blinked and peered closer into the fox's eyes. _Wait…_ He smiled impossibly wider, the widest he's _ever _smiled. "Owen?"

The familiar fox nudged his arm in affection.

Spencer laughed and ruffled Owen's neck. "Owen! Oh, I've missed you _so much!_" He nuzzled his cheek against Owen's and pulled back to smile at his fox and companion. "Where've you been, boy?"

Owen whimpered and nuzzled his cheek.

Spencer's smile slowly slipped away. He ruffled Owen's neck again, but his eyes were glancing around the forest in fear and cautiousness. "Where have you been…?"

Suddenly, he heard a familiar deep, rich voice calling his name nearby. Derek and his friends came in sight, all of them wearing equally angry faces.

Derek came stomping towards him, shouting. "What the fuck were you thinking? You just _stopped_?"

Spencer stared up at him, his booming, powerful voice oozing with ire. "I-I…"

"You can't just stop like that, Spencer! You need to be watched every minute of every hour by one of us until we get you out of here! You can't just wander off like that! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Owen stepped forward and gave a halting bark.

Derek jerked back in surprise.

Owen growled and nuzzled against Spencer's neck protectively.

Derek was quite flabbergasted while JJ was absolutely in love with him. She stepped from behind Derek knelt down in front of him to scratch his ears. "Oh, how cute! Is he yours?"

Spencer nodded hesitantly. "O-Owen."

"His name is Owen?" JJ asked in a gentle voice.

Spencer smiled slightly and nodded.

JJ smiled back, happy to see even the slightest smile on the boy's face. He rubbed his back in adoration. "Well, it fits him just perfectly. He's very cute." She stood up and stepped back.

The interaction seemed to calm Spencer nerves as he stroked Owen's head in affection, which was drawn on his face.

Owen nudged his hand and purred.

Derek cleared his throat awkwardly. "Do you…do you want to keep him?"

Garret suddenly appeared in front of them all of a sudden. With his gun in hand. "Don't let him keep it; let's kill it!"

Spencer tensed and cradled Owen in his arms as the Reynard growled.

Derek glared at him. "Listen to me right now, Garret. You have been a selfish ass since the beginning when we picked Spencer up. Don't you see? He has _nothing. _No parents, no house, no company – _nothing. _And you, you have everything. Your father spoils you with money and everything you could ever want. I would like to see you put yourself in _his _shoes and see what it's like to have nothing. We're not killing it; we're letting him keep it. It's the only thing he has right now. His dignity, his sanity, his everything is gone now. His father took that away from him. Just leave him alone from now, alright, Garret?"

Garret put his gun away and nodded without making eye contact.

Derek extended a hand to Spencer and helped him up. He gestured a hand to Owen. "He's not dangerous or anything, right?"

Spencer shook his head and added quietly. "Not unless you give him a reason to be…"

Derek looked down at it in caution. "Well, I'm gonna keep my distance then…"

Spencer chuckled quietly and slipped past him with Owen following, eyeing Derek fiercely.

Derek wasn't paying attention to that. He was paying attention to Spencer's laugh. It was soft, sweet, and warm. He wanted to hear it more often.

Suddenly, an arrow plucked itself in a tree and landed right above Spencer's head. Spencer turned his head sharply enough to have whiplash and gasped.

Owen trotted to him and tucked himself in between Spencer's shaking legs, rubbing his snout against his calf.

A sharp _boom _fired out and a bullet flew past Spencer's arm and grazed him.

Spencer gasped at the prickly throb of his wound and held it. Owen stood up and curled himself around Spencer in a way to protect him. He barked in command, as if to tell whoever was doing this to stop.

Spencer heard Derek whisper to him to get down, but he was too paralyzed with fear to move. _Father…Father found me! _His immediate instinct was to run. So he bolted, running past Derek and the others with Owen at his heels. Arrows and bullets flew in between his movements and missed him by a long shot. By the time the attack had stopped and they were at a considerate length away, Spencer dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands. He whimpered and panted, trying to catch his breath and trying to catch his life.

Owen nudged Spencer's thigh, but did nothing further, knowing that his owner didn't want to be bothered.

Spencer sniffed and sobbed. He ran his hands through his hair and wiped his eyes. He shakily stood up and used the tree and Derek for leverage. He looked at him hesitantly with apologetic eyes. "I'm…I'm really sorry. I did all of this. This is my fault."

Derek shook his head. "No, Spencer, it's not. Your father is just…being really difficult. It's his fault. He's not well in the head if he wants to hold onto you so tightly for whatever reason it is. Don't blame yourself; it's not your fault."

All of their legs and feet were aching by the time they walked half of a day's worth of miles. Derek sighed relief as he removed his boots and rubbed them, closing his eyes at the rich throb of his feet. It was weird, but he always liked the feeling. He cracked his eyes open to find Spencer laughing as Owen nuzzled and licked his face. He smiled. _Gotta love that laugh. _He directed his attention on Owen in all of his gentleness and affection. The Reynard cared very deeply about Spencer, almost as if he were a protector and shield of some sort. Derek liked him. If anything, they were almost exactly alike.

Then a dark thought hit him. What if that the fox was the only thing that really made Spencer happy? It was a hard thing to think about considering what Spencer's background, but it was most likely true that Spencer hadn't really laughed in a long time. Derek wanted to change that. He wanted Spencer to have a better life after this, but he knew that it was going to be _far _from simple. He had to keep an open mind, though, so he can make it through without tearing himself apart like the last time.

He sighed tiredly. "Ah, I think I'm gonna hit the sack and go to sleep. It's been a long day and we need to get moving right when we get up in the morning."

Spencer nodded. "Can…can Owen stay outside?"

Derek smiled a friendly one at him and nodded. "Sure. Will he be here in the morning?"

Spencer smiled down at his fox and stroked his back. "Yeah, he'll be here."

Derek nodded and stood to get started on making camp, sparing another glance at the boy from the tree. He shook his head and smiled as he unpacked. He wanted to see the better side of Spencer and was determined to be that person who does.

**AN: Did you like it? Did ya? Did ya?**

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	4. Chapter 4: Correct Protection

**You…guys…are so…**

***In high pitched voice* AMAZING! *Does head-bang***

**The reviews were off the hook and I just love you guys for that.**

**I will be coming out with new stories and will be updating others.**

**As soon as I'm finished with this one.**

**I mean, don't get me wrong, ****it's not like I'll abandon them (I hope not). It's just that, when I'm juggling stories, I have to chose one and drop all the others, which gets you guys pissed and me upset.**

**I'm only sticking with Distraught for now and I will be updating Love I Can Wait For and Defenseless as well when I get closer to the end of these stories.**

**I'm very, **_**very **_**sorry guys. I'm not a clown and I can't juggle very well anyway, so I can't constantly be writing a million stories at once. **

**Keep on scrolling if you're not mad at me!**

**And a special thanks to my writing buddy Angie!  
**

**Reid/Review/Accept My Apology/Enjoy!**

**Gubleronics**

_Chapter 4: Correct Protection_

Spencer played with the knot keeping his bandage tight around his wound. He had woken up for no particular reason. He lifted his head to look at the tent flaps and saw Owen's lump of a shadow laid down in front of the tent folds, shifting every once in a while. He was feeling restless for some reason. He sighed softly as he shifted and turned. He blinked in surprise when he saw that Derek was awake as well, staring at the roof of the tent. Spencer didn't know what to do next. He felt very awkward about this. He couldn't un-see this. He couldn't just ignore it… "You…you can't sleep?"

Derek jerked his head to look at Spencer in a little shock that faded away quickly and nodded. "Yeah, I am."

Spencer stayed silent for a while before breaking the ice again. "Do you want to talk about it?" He winced inwardly as soon as the words fell out. He wasn't really one of good company or a really good person to talk to. He learned that about himself before Father secluded him out from the social world.

Derek hesitated and sighed. He began to tap the back of his hand, which was folded on top of the other. "I'm worried about how…how I'm gonna handle this. How I'm gonna have you live with me."

Spencer clamped his mouth closed and thought about what to say next. "Are you saying…are you saying that you're worried about my safety?"

Derek sighed and nodded, tapping even faster on his hand.

Finding it irritating and nerve-causing, Spencer reached over and stopped it.

And there it was: The slightest feel of electricity either of them had felt in a _very _long time.

Spencer quickly removed his hand and curled in a tight, protective fist, clutching it close to his chest. He started to feel a bit more confident about speaking, but spoke in a softer voice. "I'll be fine. I'll be away from Father because of you. You…you saved me. Everything's gonna be fine now. Th…thank you, Derek."

Derek smiled slightly at the words of gratitude and nodded. "You're very welcome," pause, then, "Can I hold your hand? I just want you to feel comforted."

Spencer slowly and hesitantly uncurled his fingers from their white-knuckle grip and reached out for Derek's hand, which was lying on his chest. His hands and fingers skated across the soft, thick shirt until they reached Derek's hand.

Derek took it and squeezed it, holding it to his chest. "You're gonna be alright, Spencer. I'll get you out of this. We'll all get you out of this." And for _very _strange reason, he wanted to lift the hand to his lips and kiss it. He held himself against that urge. He was surprisingly reluctant to release Spencer's hand, but he did, feeling heaviness in his chest as he did so.

Spencer didn't want him to let go and actually wanted the man beside him to hold him. And he _never _wanted _anybody _to even _touch _him. He slowly slipped his hand back to the possession of his chest and looked down. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Derek merely nodded.

Spencer rolled around to his side and held the touched hand close to his chest. _Comfort. I like comfort. _His eyelids dropped drowsily and he drifted off to sleep due to Derek and his soft touch.

As morning rolled around, they were impossibly closer to their town and had only very little miles to go. They walked through undergrowth and up ahead, Spencer saw a SUV. It had been so long since he'd been in a car or ever seen one.

Derek glanced at him with concern. "Do cars scare you, Spencer?"

Spencer jumped slightly at the sudden question, but shook his head. Owen nudged his leg and looked up at him earnestly. Spencer smiled slightly and leaned down to ruffle the hair on Owen's back. Owen shivered with delight and looked up at him with a gentle twinkle in his eyes.

Suddenly, three shots fired out, breaking the silence in the air.

Spencer jumped and instinctively picked Owen up, clutching his Reynard to his chest.

Breaking the shocked pause, Emily shouted, "Run!"

And they did. They hadn't had very far to go until they got to the car and they thought they were gonna make it unscathed in the least.

That's what they _thought._

But it didn't happen. A pin-filled cry rang throughout Spencer's ears as the edged closer to the car. He whirled his head around to see Derek on the ground within the snow and dirt, holding onto his side. His face was saturated with pain and his teeth bore as he hissed.

Emily and JJ instantly turned around and dropped to Derek's side. Emily reached out and pried his hand away from his wound to see the damage, and gasped. "We need to get him to the hospital."

Another shot fired.

"Now!"

They all moved quickly as Garret and Aaron carried Derek to the car. They quickly, but carefully stowed Derek into the backseat with Spencer and Owen and sped off. Bullets hit the shield of their backside before they could drive off carefully. Spencer, shivering, turned his head to see who the attacker was and it was the form of a very familiar man. His pupils grew wide. _Father. _

He whipped his head back around to urge Aaron to drive faster, but couldn't find it in himself to do so. He was able to open his mouth, but that was it.

It was when the third shot fired at the back window that Derek started to get angrily irritated. He grabbed his gun from his belt and shot back the attacker. But that time, they had gotten farther away from him and closer to their town.

Derek groaned as he clutched his wound tighter, gulping heavily. He glanced at Spencer, who was biting his lip to keep it from trembling as he watched him, tears leaking over his flushed cheeks. He sighed softly. "Spencer, it's…"

"I'm sorry," Spencer said softly and quietly, his voice quivering. Owen nudged his thigh in sympathy. "I'm really, really sorry. This is my fault. All my fault. Just drop me off on the side of the road and leave me there to die," he whimpered in a pliant voice. The words were tumbling out before he knew it.

"I wouldn't have a problem with that," Garret grumbled as he slipped his back pack off.

"Garret just shut up! Shut your fucking trap! I don't want to hear _anymore _of your bullshit!" Derek shouted, even though he knew it was pointless.

Garret smirked and glared at the both of them before turning back around in his seat. "I'm just saying what everyone's thinking."

Derek was ready to reach forward and grab him until Spencer instinctively reached out and pushed him back into the seat. Derek looked startled to see that Spencer had stopped him from taking Garret out.

Spencer was as well. He removed his hand and leaned back into the door. His back was facing the door when they got in and he hadn't bothered to move – he wanted to give Derek some space. He shook his head a little and said very quietly, "No."

Derek was quite proud of Spencer for stopping him when he did or he probably would've done something stupid. It even distracted him from his pain.

For a little while.

Soon the pain was breaking through the distracting reserve and coming up to a front. Derek hissed again, even though he tried to conceal it for the sake of Spencer. He looked at him and saw a guilty look painted on his face. "Spencer, I'm fine. It's not your fault. Garret, don't say a word," he added as he heard the egocentric man scoff. He looked at Spencer with gentle eyes. "Shit just…happens. It's not your fault."

Aaron leaned over to Garret and mumbled something. Garret's smirk slipped off.

Spencer looked down and didn't nod or mumble anything. He didn't believe him. If anything, everything was his fault. If anybody had to point blame at anyone, it should be him. "All my fault," he whispered.

Owen whimpered and rubbed his snout against his side and thigh for comfort.

Spencer ran a hand down his head and dropped it away, not really paying attention as he was lost in his own thoughts. _Father can follow us…he can…he can find out where we are…I'll never escape him, will I? _He whimpered softly as he brought his legs up to his chest into his signature fetal position.

Derek's gaze fell on him as he narrowed his eyebrows. "Spencer, what's wrong?"

Spencer shook his head frantically as he began to quiver violently. He hid his face away between his knees as his breathing became harsh and shallow.

Panic attack.

Derek grunted unnoticeably as he sat up and placed a hand on Spencer's knee. "Spencer, Spencer, you've got to breathe. Try to breathe. Calm down, Spencer."

Spencer looked up as he tried to catch air frantically. "I can't. I can't…"

Derek brought his hand up to the side of his neck and began to stroke the skin there, feeling the fast thrumming pulse against his fingers. "Spencer, calm down."

Spencer gasped at the man's touch, but didn't flinch away at it. Actually, he started to settle down as air entered his lungs in a normal fashion again. His tense shoulder slowly lowered as he sighed ever so softly.

Derek realized that he was still stroking over his skin and removed his hand, leaning back into the seat with his eyes closed.

Spencer slowly leaned back into the window and sighed through his nostrils. Owen nuzzled his hand that sat on his head and looked up at him in a friendly way. Spencer smiled down at him briefly, but returned to his dark thoughts and memories immediately.

It was along time until he finally looked up and out the window, and saw things he hasn't seen in eleven years. Buildings, stores, and most of all, people. So many people. He somehow felt…relieved. He felt free. But there was still that unbearable weight on his shoulders and all that worry and pain and fear. He knew he wasn't free yet, despite all the other people around, he knew he wasn't free. Father would have him soon enough, he was sure of it.

He spared a glance at Derek, who was gritting his teeth out of the pain of his side. Blood oozed out of the wound and Spencer had wondered if the bullet had gone through him entirely. He felt that he was to blame. This was his fault and there was nothing anyone could say to him that would convince him otherwise.

After a good minimum of thirty minutes, they pulled up into the parking lot of this very large and towering building with hundreds of windows. Spencer gawked at the sight of some many cars and people. They had pulled into the front, where a fountain stood, gushing out gallons of water from its tip. As they all stepped out, Spencer momentarily stared at it until he noticed that Derek hadn't stepped out after him. He turned his head to see that the other man wasn't moving at all, except for the pumping of his chest. Spencer wanted rush forward and help, wanted to do something, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Garret had turned the corner of the car to their side and saw that Derek wasn't conscience. He whirled around at him in fury. "You idiot! Why didn't you do anything?"

Spencer wanted to answer and say that there wasn't much he could from stopping the event from happening, but Garret hadn't given him the chance. He already had Derek's arm slouched around his shoulder and was dragging him to the entry of the ER. Spencer shut his eyes for a moment. _See, Spencer? You can't do anything right. Just once! Father was right; you really are a bad boy. _

The touch on his shoulder had pulled him from his train of thought and he opened his eyes to find Aaron standing beside him with a slight sympathetic face. Spencer tensed at his touch and he removed it. Aaron jerked his head at the entry. "You're welcome to come inside and wait with us if you want to. I would recommend it."

Spencer nodded fervently.

"You'll have to keep Owen in the car, though; they don't allow animals in the ER."

"I know that," Spencer mumbled so quietly that Aaron hadn't even heard him. He turned to the door and stroked Owen's back affectionately. He smiled down at him softly. "I'll be back, Owen. I promise," he whispered. "But you can't come in."

Owen whimpered in protest, but stepped back so that Spencer could shut the door.

Spencer gave him a pitying smile before closing the door. He was surprised that Aaron had still been waiting for him.

They walked through the entrance and into a bitingly cold place with too many noises, ringing, and people. Spencer began to quiver. There was a baby crying, a telephone ringing, a person shouting…it was all too much for him. There were too many noises. There were so many noises!

Spencer whimpered loudly and dropped to his knees, cradling his head within his arms.

Aaron kneeled down beside him and set a hand on his shoulder. "Spencer, what's…?"

"Too many noises! Too many noises!" Spencer shouted as he shook his head frantically.

Aaron removed his hand. "Alright. Okay. I'll just take you back to the car and we'll wait there together. Is that okay with you? Is that alright?"

Spencer was still whimpering, but he nodded and allowed him to help him up. They walked back outside and slipped in the SUV. Owen looked up in surprise, but was pleased anyhow. Spencer cradled his Reynard's head and whimpered as he stroked the fur there.

Aaron glanced back at him through the rearview mirror and sighed. "Are you alright now?"

Spencer shook his head. His head was pounding with a raging headache and his heart was beating uncontrollably. "N-no…I'm n-not…"

Aaron sighed again. "You'll be fine. They just have to take the bullet out from Derek's side and he'll be fine. I promise. Everything'll be fine," he added, more to himself.

Spencer knew it wasn't gonna be alright. Every time that "alright" word was spoken, he knew it was a lie. But would anything ever be alright again? Spencer didn't think so.

**AN: Alright, how as that? Did that make up for all this lost time?**

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	5. Chapter 5: Going Home With Garret

**Alright, I'm back guys! I just want to thank the people who have favorite and followed this story (Angie, I know you have)!**

**Also, thank you to the reviewers! I never get this far in a story and I would like to start. **

**WARNING: Explicit language, especially in this chapter (I know I should've warned you before…)**

**Keep scrolling.**

**Gubleronics**

_Chapter 5: Going Home With Garret_

Spencer linked his hands together between his legs as he waited in the car with Aaron, who was getting very tired. Owen was sitting contentedly by his side with his head resting on his thigh. Spencer knew it was getting late. A deep, sharp pang of worry and guilt struck him.

Had Derek died? Did he make it through the surgery? Spencer felt his stomach coil. _Oh no, oh no, oh no…this is my fault. All my fault. Oh no, they're gonna take me back now! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why can't you do anything right, Spencer? You're a fucking genius; why not put some use to that? Father always knew you were stupid, you know. Maybe he was right. _He whimpered quietly to himself.

Aaron heaved a deep sigh through his nostrils as Emily walked out towards his window. He jabbed the keys in the ignition and rolled the window down. "What's going on? Did he make it? Is he alright?"

Spencer looked up with wide eyes to hear the news.

Emily nodded as she sighed tiredly. "Yeah, he's gonna be fine. They drugged him heavily, so he shouldn't be awake anytime soon," she glanced down at her watch. "It's past visiting hours, so…," she looked up at Spencer with pitying eyes, "you can't sleep at Derek's because he won't be there with you and our enemy knows who might have gotten close to you, so the best choice is for you to stay with…Garret."

Spencer shook his head frantically.

Emily sighed. "I know you don't want to and none of us want you to stay there either, but it's for your safety, Spencer. I'm really sorry. I already laid down the rules with him, so he shouldn't bother you. If he does then I promised him I'd kick his ass into the next millennium," she said with a sly grin.

It didn't cheer Spencer up in the slightest. _I'm going home with…him? The man who attempted to rape me in the forest? Of all people…? Maybe I should tell them what happened…but I said I wouldn't say anything…. What would he do if I _did _tell? I don't know what he's capable of… _He looked up with sorrowful eyes and nodded sadly.

Emily wanted so badly to reach back there and pat his shoulder or at least open the door and give him a hug, but he knew it would frighten him. She gave him another sorry smile before getting in the passenger seat.

A thought occurred to Spencer suddenly. "What about clothes?"

Emily shrugged. "We'll make Garret lend you some. We'll go shopping for your clothes tomorrow until then."

Spencer shuddered with the thought of having to wear the self-centered man's clothes, knowing what he'd been doing in them, but told himself to get a grip. _Do you want to continue to sleep in these clothes? It's been days since you've taken a real bath of any sort. The river doesn't count. _He nodded, though he was horrified at the thought of shopping in a place so common for people to be there. _So many people…so many noises…_

Soon enough everyone else filed into the car with an angry-looking Garret. Not only was he looking tired, he was looking grumpy. Spencer had made sure to keep his eyes downcast, though he knew Garret was mentally glaring at him with burning eyes. _Oh, he has it in for me…_

They drove for a few minutes before pulling into a the parking lot of an apartment complex. Garret sighed as he opened his door and looked at Spencer. "Come on. Get out. We're here."

Spencer paused for a moment before opening his door and slipping out with Owen following. He was glad to finally get away from the bloodstain that sat against Derek's seat. He watched as Garret walked past him with his bags and Aaron stopped him through the window. He heard him hissed the words, "Be nice. Grumble at him if you want to, but that's it."

Garret rolled his eyes at him, but merely nodded. He turned to Spencer and jerked his head to motion him to come along. Spencer hesitantly followed. Owen trotted alongside him and into the building. The inside of the building had been cold and quiet. Spencer liked that. There weren't so many people.

The lobby looked quite nice, though. It seemed that everything there was made out of glass except for the couches and lamps.

Spencer had glanced at the man standing behind the desk beside the doors and was quite surprised that the man hadn't said anything about Owen. It seemed that they allowed pets there.

They entered an elegant elevator and a woman in a nice fur coat was standing there, looking smug for no reason. She smiled sweetly at Garret and glared at Spencer, her smile twisted into an ugly sneer that seemed to absorb all the wrinkles in her face. Spencer briskly moved his gaze to something else in the elevator. _Proof that you're an awful person. Look at that – people would automatically dislike you and they won't even know your name._ He shut his eyes against the tears that foreboded to drop. He wanted to whisper an apology, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The woman would've hated him all the same.

He couldn't seem to describe the joy that possessed him when they finally got to their floor. He wanted to run out and hide somewhere. Anywhere. If the whole world hated him, what was the point of even trying?

He rushed out before Garret and the woman. The smug-looking woman shot him another seething glare before turning dramatically and walking off. It was obvious she didn't take to new people.

Garret merely ignored the woman and Spencer, not really caring to stand up for him. What did it matter if the kid was going to go through a lot worse than that? He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs right now. He knew that they were already waist-high in shit. What was the fucking point of even trying? He was the type to give up quickly, whereas his associates seemed to want to pitch a good fight. He wanted so badly to just fork the boy over to his seemingly horrific father and be done with everything. _If the boy hadn't moved in his goddamned tree and if Derek hadn't prodded at it so nobly, we probably wouldn't even be in shit like this right now. But no, Derek had to be so modest and take the retard with us. Had they even thought about the consequences in the future? God, what the fuck is wrong with people? They're always doing stupid shit to seem brave and shit like that, when really they're just cowards trying to get the upper hand in life. Fuck that. Derek doesn't need an upper hand. His father's already the chief of the police station. We could've just left him behind. I wouldn't have given a shit and two fucks._

Shoving the key in the lock to his door, he pushed it open and trudged in with Spencer and Owen following. His condo was very stylish and pleasant with its soft-looking, red furniture, flat screen TV, glass coffee table, and granite countertop kitchen. A wide window as tall as Spencer showed a wonderful view of the city below them.

Spencer stared in wide-eyed wonder at not only the view, but the condo. It was the nicest condition of a house he'd ever lived in. He hadn't been living in any type of decent condition at Father's cabin – it was made of wood and it reeked badly of mold and other substances he chose not to think about.

Garret motioned for him to sit and sent Owen a look of some sort of anger that he felt he wasn't allowed to show. He carried his gaze to Spencer. "Do you want some coffee? Do you even know what that is?"

Spencer wanted to suddenly lash out on him. Just because he lived in the forest away from any other form of life didn't mean that he was foreign to every day things. "Yes, I do know what that is. I would like some, thank you," he said in a quiet, tight voice.

Garret almost raised his eyebrows at the tone of impatience in the boy's voice, but he simply brushed it off. If he expected respect from him, he had to do a lot better than that. He impelled to walk to the kitchen until Spencer said something.

"Why…why did you want to shoot Owen? Why do you hate me so much?" Spencer asked in a severed voice. It took him a lot of courage and determination to even make the choice that he was going to ask that.

Apparently it was the wrong choice. "I'm not talking about that!" Garret shouted, his voice thundering and vibrating suddenly. His patience was already running thin and he just wanted to get some sleep.

Spencer mouth hung open slightly until he finally closed it and swallowed the saliva that had been sitting there. He looked down and bit his lip as if he was forcing himself to keep whatever thoughts and questions he had, in.

Garret heaved a sigh and turned to go work his task. H e returned to the den shortly and put a mug of coffee in front of him as he started to drink his own.

Spencer hesitantly reached out for it and gasped quietly as the handle brushed against his fingertips. Warmth. He hasn't touched anything warm like that in a while and come to think of it, he really missed coffee. Despite the fact that he was seven at the time and he didn't need anything else to boost his energy, he loved coffee very dearly, like a man to his football game. He would drink it every day in spite of his mother's orders.

He curled his fingers around the handle and lifted the sacred mug of coffee. He brought it to his lips and sipped the warm drink, and he felt himself enter a world of heated sensations. It seemed to calm his nerves and he liked it. Just feeling calm for once, where his thoughts and nerves weren't thrumming constantly.

He took the mug away from his lips and almost smiled – he hadn't really felt comfortable enough to do it around Garret. The man just might snap at him for smiling.

"I'll show you to the bathroom. Come on," Garret said suddenly.

Spencer's head snapped to his direction and he set his mug down on the table. He looked down at Owen and leaned down to ruffle his neck. "Stay here. I'll be back. Don't…don't do anything to him, for me?"

Owen whimpered, but made a motion with his head that showed that he understood.

Spencer smiled and stroked his head. "Good boy."

With one last stroke, he followed Garret out into a bedroom that was just behind the den, a few feet far away from it. It was a bedroom, but to Spencer, it looked like an entirely new condo. That's how large in size it was. It looked just as the same as the den, but a bed was in the center of the room with its headboard pushed up against the wall. It looked silky and soft with its dark brown comforter and pillows. Spencer concluded that whatever job Garret had, it paid a wonderful amount of money.

They entered the bathroom and it seemed to be about half the size of the bedroom and/or den. Spencer knew that every room in the condo was just as equally nice as the next and that it was most likely that every other room had the same theme of red, brown, and gray.

Garret opened a closet behind the door that they had entered through and there was a large supply of towels and cloths there. "Towels and cloths are here when you need them and," he pointed to the shower in the corner, "that is the shower. Just turn that knob in the middle of the wall and get to washing. Shampoo and other things are under the sink," he turned to him with blank eyes. "You can wash Owen in the tub if you want to, but if he isn't potty trained or anything like that, I'm kicking him out," he warned a little bit…softly.

Spencer slightly narrowed his eyebrows, not enough for Garret to notice. Why was he being so quiet? And…decent? Spencer was sure that he would've at least said some harsh words towards him or something like that, but not this. Don't get him wrong, it wasn't like he didn't like it, it was just that it seemed…out of character for Garret. But he didn't ask about it. He hadn't even uttered a sound, seeing as how he was smacked down for asking questions earlier.

He nodded, snapping out of his thoughts so Garret wouldn't get suspicious about his staring at him. "Th…thank you," he whispered, almost not being able to be heard.

Garret nodded. "You're…you're welcome. That room out there is yours until then. Do you want something to eat after this?"

For the strangest reason, Spencer wasn't feeling all that hungry. He shook his head and almost wanted to offer a smile, but he held that back. "No, but thank you."

Garret nodded again, looking down. "Yes, well, you're welcome." Then he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Spencer let his face twist into one of utter confusion. What was up with his actions? Why was he acting so nice and pleasant to him?

He shook his head. _That's none of your business, Spencer. That's probably why people hate you so much – you're always in on their business. You need to learn how to stop that. _

He sighed. As he grabbed himself a towel and a cloth. His thoughts were morbid at best, but he chose to listen to them, due to the fact that it would just anger Garret more if he got in on his business like that. Everyone else probably didn't understand him either.

Meanwhile, Garret sat in his room and sighed as he picked up his phone, already knowing who it was. "What is it now?"

"_Did you treat him well?"_

"Yes, Aaron"

"…_Listen, I know it's a tough thing for you to be taking care of someone with issues when you have your own, but he needs someone to vent out to. This is not all about you, Garret. Know that. He's been through a hell of a lot worse and I think you should cut him some slack. And whenever you do have a problem, you need to talk to me. I know you have more issues that what you're letting me on to."_

Garret sighed again, tears welling up in his eyes. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Aaron. At the hospital."

"…_Fine, Garret. But this conversation isn't over. See you tomorrow."_

**AN: How was that? I know you guys are eager to see what'll happen when Spencer and Derek's friends head down to the hospital, but the chapter would be too long and I know that some of you guys out there skip a lot of shit that needs to be read. I'll do that in Chapter Six.**

**REVIEW! **


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